


Brutal Truth

by I_Gave_You_Fair_Warning



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Cliffhanger-ish Ending?, Gen, Heavy Angst, Horror, Hurt No Comfort, Psychological Horror, Some Distrubing Imagery, Unhappy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-12
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2019-07-29 22:26:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16273622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Gave_You_Fair_Warning/pseuds/I_Gave_You_Fair_Warning
Summary: Anakin & Obi-Wan attempt to escape a jungle planet they've crash-landed on.





	Brutal Truth

**Author's Note:**

> I know the tags were a bit vague this time, but there is something I'm trying not to say. So just be prepared: It doesn't have a nice ending, the goal is creeping discomfort to intense discomfort at the end. I rated it Mature instead of Teen because of the vague quality of the tags this time.
> 
> Just be prepared for a little flies-related ickyness near the end. And.
> 
> There are a couple things I have not warned you about. The awfulness level, maybe think PG-13 horror film. Most stories I'm okay with the gist of it being shared beforehand, but this one I really enjoyed setting up the payout.
> 
> You decide if reading this is a good idea for you right now or not. It's okay to decide the latter. There are more stories on the way, m'dears. So many more stories.

 

 

The long, grueling trek through the jungle to reach the satellite tower had yielded fruitful results.

Beyond the drenching sweat and brier scrapes adorning both Anakin and his former master, Anakin had been able to adjust the thing so that once they returned to their crashed ship, they could use the satellite to boost the short-range comms to call for help.

Having a shuttle scraped by buzz droids and then crashing on a world only inhabited by an abandoned listening post was  _not_ Anakin's definition of a good day. It turned substantially more sour the moment he realized the shuttle's long-range comm had been utterly annihilated in the impact.

The fact it had taken hours to reach the outpost, and was taking hours to return...

Anakin was very ready to be  _done_ .

For the last hour, something seemed to have been troubling Obi-Wan. The weary man's forehead would wrinkle, he would look down at his hands, up at the cacophonous jungle, and then over at Anakin.

He was probably just jittery about unknown giant animals. Or poisonous ones. Or ones with webs. Or with teeth. Or with claws. Or with—

Or maybe he was concerned about the several-hour hike back to the ship, worried that the dish might not work for whatever reason. Maybe a giant animal knocking into it or something.

_Such a worrier,_ Anakin mused, half-fond, half-exasperated.

“Anakin? Could we slow down for a while?”

The strain in Obi-Wan's voice surprised Anakin. “Are you hurt?”

“I don't seem to be.”

Anakin's footsteps slowed a bit to match Obi-Wan's dogged but wearying gait. “What's wrong?”

Obi-Wan shook his head. “I'm still working it out.”

“Let me know when you've figured out what it is, then.” Anakin wasn't sure whether to be amused or concerned. Half the time, Obi-Wan's bad feelings turned out to be dangers they handled easily on their own.

The older man didn't speak again as the hours dragged past, as Anakin grumpily smacked the insects landing on his face, fished his boot out of mud when it sucked it clear off his foot, and when they reached a bramble patch they had to skirt sideways for quite a ways to get around, since it was far too thick to reasonably go  _through._

They wanted  _some_ skin left by the time they returned to the ship.

Fifteen minutes or so out from their goal, Obi-Wan stopped entirely.

“Figured it out?”

Obi-Wan's brow was furrowed again. “Anakin, what do you remember about the crash?”

“It wasn't one of my prettiest,” Anakin admitted, grimacing. “It blew out the viewport, ripped the wings off, stuff like that.”

“I'm fairly certain the wings remained, just were bent too far to be recoverable.”

Anakin shrugged. “You want to argue semantics in a miserable jungle.”

“Do you remember walking away from it?”

“Ah,  _yeah,_ ” Anakin scoffed, smacking another biting insect at his throat. “The  _hours_ of walking in this Force-awful stinkhole.”

“Not after the ship was behind us. Climbing _out_ of the ship.”

Anakin shrugged. “Does it matter?” He turned to finish the last leg of the journey.

“We need to discuss this before we get there.”

“Why? If you're doubting my memory of the ship's damage, we can just inventory it again.”

Obi-Wan didn't reply.

Anakin turned around, feeling his back prickle.

Obi-Wan looked so earnest, so grim. “Anakin, is there something odd about me?”

“ _Clearly._ ”

“I cut my calf open on Ryloth.”

“It's nice that it hasn't been bothering you this whole time, though it's too bad it's started up again. We're almost there— can you manage it?”

“There's something else too, Anakin.”

Anakin perched against a large stone. “If you needed a break, you could have just said so, Obi-Wan. Are the stitches holding?”

“Anakin, there aren't any.” Obi-Wan took a few steps closer, his eyes pleading now. “When we get back to the ship, you're going to see something.”

Anakin's blood seemed to crawl. “It's not funny. I'm tired and soaked with pond ooze and I'm not in the mood—”

“Anakin, you know there's something not right about me.”

Ice crept through Anakin's body, so cold it hurt.

“This whole time I've been trying to make sense of what I know I remember, and what's happening now. They don't match, Anakin. I know bones broke when I impacted. But they don't hurt now. And there were transparisteel shards in my hands, but my gloves are not torn.”

Anakin frowned. “Concussion. Maybe we both ended up with one.”

Obi-Wan's gaze tracked up from his gloves to Anakin's face again.

“Anakin, please. For the last hour I've been simply in awe of my extraordinary brother, wondering how to mention this.” Obi-Wan swallowed, and the corners of his eyes crinkled. “Something happened, during the crash.”

Anakin's throat ran dry, and he felt trapped by the insects buzzing near his head, the oppressive tree canopy, and by Obi-Wan's compassionate eyes.

“You know what it was. You need to remember.”

“The crash happened and we walked away. _That_ is everything I need to remember about the crash!”

“Anakin, you know there's something not right about me.”

Anakin reached out, pushed his palm against Obi-Wan's shoulder, making the older man sway. “You're  _solid._ Your color's good. You're here.”

“Yes,” Obi-Wan whispered, “I  _am_ here. But I should not be. I can feel it, the wrongness increasing with every moment, an ache that says I don't belong here anymore.”

“Stop.” Anakin turned away from him and strode for the end of the trees. “You hit your head.”

“Yes. I did.”

“...and you're  _confused_ about things!” Anakin snapped in return, his heart thundering.

Why would Obi-Wan say such  _awful_ things? Why—

“Anakin, you've already kept me here for hours. And it seemed so natural, at first, to just continue on with you like we always have.”

“We're just going to keep doing it,” Anakin swore.

Obi-Wan followed him. “Except we already haven't. I can feel it, the pull at me from every side, trying to drag me apart, for me to leave. But you're will is here, preventing it, and it... it hurts, Anakin. It hurts unlike anything I've ever felt before. This part of me is not meant to be here, at this time.”

“So, what? You want me to kill you?” Anakin shot back, feeling as if his entire world was unraveling around him. His feet sped up.

“Anakin... you're going to have to decide if you are going to keep me chained here, in pain, or...”

Anakin broke into a sprint.

The sooner he could prove this all a lie, the sooner they could get out of here and get Obi-Wan some mental help.

“Wait,” wavered the voice behind him, wanting him to think  _first._ “Please, wait.”

But Anakin burst into the clearing, where still some of the fires burned low.

The ship looked like a twisted parody of itself, a thing that would never fly again.

And sprawled through the broken viewport lay something, staring up at Anakin with vacant, glazed eyes.

Flies buzzed, crawling over the glass shards sticking out of throat, chest, and abdomen.

The funny way a leg lay with an extra bend in it.

Where the back of the skull was partly smashed in.

Obi-Wan caught up, and gripped Anakin's shoulder tight with a warm,  _living_ hand. Anakin was trembling, unable to comprehend, he _couldn't—_

A fly crawled over the parted lips, another flew out of the open mouth.

“It was fast, Anakin.”

Bits of the crash flickered through into Anakin's awareness, brief glimpses of pure horror and agony.

“Why are you doing this,” Anakin choked, his throat burning, his eyes on fire—

“Once I realized, I couldn't keep lying to you, Anakin.”

“We'll... we'll find you another body. Or clone this one. Or—”

“I will endure whatever it is you decide to force me into,” Obi-Wan murmured, sounding resigned. “I have no choice. But perhaps someday, you'll ask what I want. Or perhaps that shield you've had raised to me throughout our journey will lower, and you'll feel what you're hiding from. You'll feel what's happening to me.”

“I can't. I can't let you go,” Anakin choked, turning away from the corpse and burying his face into Obi-Wan's shoulder, arms wrapping around him and holding him close. “I'm not  _ready._ ”

“I understand.” Obi-Wan held him in return, his arms strong and warm and  _there_ . “It's an old memory, now, for you; but you  _know_ I understand.”

Tears scarred down Anakin's cheeks. “How did you survive?”

“One step at a time, precious padawan. And by turning to those still living, instead of turning away from them.”

Anakin pulled himself together and crawled into the ship to begin getting the distress signal out.

“...Anakin?”

“Not ready yet. Come on. Help me get this panel open.”

Anakin's shields held out the burst of hopelessness, helplessness, and pain Obi-Wan experienced in response...

But Obi-Wan edged his way in after Anakin, sending only a glance at his corpse as he passed it.

And then a pair of steady hands helped Anakin's shaking ones make the connections needed to alert the GAR they needed help.

 


End file.
